This invention relates to a method of making animal litter having improved absorptive and deodorizing qualities and the product produced thereby.
The increasing number of households in this country enjoying the presence of domestic animals has generated a tremendous market for animal litter which not only serves as a repository for the animal waste products within a dwelling but also exhibits absorptive and deodorizing qualities to reduce the unpleasant characteristics of these products. Among the attributes that are desired in animal litter are that the material be lightweight so that it can be handled in bulk by people of all ages and inexpensive so that it can be changed with great frequency. In addition, the material should be highly absorptive of liquids and possess a deodorizing quality which reduces the impact of waste product odor in the adjacent environment.
One commercially successful animal litter product specifically directed at the cat owner market utilizes a natural clay product which is mined and then ground to an appropriate size and bagged for use. This product has achieved success because it is relatively dust-free, lightweight and generally inexpensive. The ground clay is absorptive of liquid waste products. A competing product has been manufactured from agricultural waste, typically peanut hulls, to which has been added a natural carrier of chlorophyl so that the product is not only absorptive but seeks to utilize the chlorophyl in the added grasses or straw to provide a deodorizing attribute to the product. The use of an agricultural by-product has great appeal from the standpoint of cost of raw material and also upon disposal of the used product since it is composed of organic matter which can be returned to the soil.
A primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a method of manufacturing animal litter from agricultural by-products with the product produced thereby possessing absorptive and deodorizing qualities. The method utilizes the properties of the natural constituents to provide a compacted product that is essentially dust-free. In addition, animal litter made in accordance with the present method includes a naturally occurring constituent which enhances the absorption of odor-causing components of liquid waste by the product to reduce the ammonia odor characteristics of present litter products. The method of making the subject product and the use of natural organic and mineral matter therein results in a biodegradable litter product. Furthermore, the utilization of agricultural by-products provides a relatively low-cost litter material.